Improving flexibility and efficiency of automated rolling bench greenhouses

Greenhouse automation has deeply impacted the horticulture industry worldwide during the last few decades leading to larger scale plant nurseries, yielding out unprecedented levels of plants, while improving working conditions for greenhouse workers and reducing labour costs for growers.

For the last five years Logiqs Agro has been working on improving the flexibility and efficiency of automated rolling bench greenhouses even further while at the same time reducing the total investment cost of a fully automated greenhouse.

To accomplish this Logiqs Agro has invested heavily in the design of flexible and reliable equipment that allow for an easy implementation in both new builds and existing greenhouses.

One of the most important breakthroughs for Logiqs Agro was the development of the 2D-Shuttle systems. By using the 2D-Shuttles, the grower benefits from automated by-directional pipelines in the entire growing area for a much lower price than by using individual automation for each pipeline with push or pull mechanisms.

Just one 2D-Shuttle can handle more than 1.500 container movements per week, this in turn means that depending on the size of the growing surface and the individual requirements of the crop, a very small number of 2D-Shuttles is required to achieve full automation of the growing area.

The transport between different greenhouse departments and the main working area are done using either Automatic Transport Lines or by using Automatic Transport Vehicles.

The 2D-Shuttles are also particularly suitable for efficient order picking when the plants are ready to be shipped. This is best done in combination with one or more 3D-Cranes (the 2D-Shuttles can pack the rolling benches very close to one another for optimal space use and the space them when they need to be accessed by the 3D-Crane).

The control and operation of the 2D-Shuttles together with all other logistical automation equipment is done using Logis Agro’s proprietary control and registration software: Dat-A-Control V3. This industry leading software solution gives the grower full control over his greenhouse logistics from anywhere in the world.
An example of growers that have already adopted 2D-Shuttle Systems are:

Kwekerij ‘t Hoog Bos B.V., Nieuwaal, The Netherlands;
Kientzler GmbH & Co. KG, Gensingen, Germany;
Westhoff Vertriebsges. mbH, Südlohn, Germany;

Logiqs Agro will be showcasing their innovative logistical solutions at the GreenTech fair at stand 09.413.

For more information
Logiqs Agro
Gert-Jan van Staalduinen
Gert-Jan.van.Staalduinen@logiqsagro.nl
www.logiqsagro.nl/en/